


Stifling

by Blood_On_Glass



Series: Mark and Karlee sick fics [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Burping, Emetophilia, F/M, Karlee - Freeform, Mark - Freeform, Mark can't take care of people to save his life, Original Characters - Freeform, Sick!Karlee, puking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 06:14:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11457672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blood_On_Glass/pseuds/Blood_On_Glass
Summary: Karlee wakes up sick in the early hours of the morning and prays she doesn't wake up her boyfriend, Mark who is finally getting some sleep.





	Stifling

**Author's Note:**

> My new OCs. If you want to learn more about them, please check out my Tumblr hold-my-hair-back <3 I have a post describing them somewhere.

Karlee had certainly not expected to wake up feeling so sick. At first, when she woke up, she hadn’t been able to pinpoint the source of her discomfort, but that quickly changed when her an uncomfortable amount of pressure shot through her entire middle. Mark was next to her, sleeping quietly. Karlee always found it funny how Mark was just as quiet sleeping as he was awake. No snores, no sleepy mumbles, no loud breathing, nothing. Just quietness. Not that she had many opportunities to see him sleep. Karlee always went to bed before Mark and Mark was always up in the morning before her. He got, at most, four hours of sleep at night, and she knew there were many nights he didn’t sleep at all. So, because he was actually managing to get some rest, Karlee made sure to be slow and quiet as she sat up in bed, a hand resting on her stomach.

She sat there for a while, but the churning wasn’t stopping. The digital clock on the nightstand read 4:45 am – a harsh reminder of how early her belly had woken her up. She hadn’t gone to bed until well after midnight as she and Mark decided to have a night full of intimacy with over an hour of foreplay included. The lack of sleep and exhaustion made the situation just that much more unbearable to Karlee. She was a girl who needed at least seven or eights hours of sleep each night to function and even then a few gallons of coffee in the morning.

Her belly let out a loud gurgle and she put her hand it, looking over at Mark quickly. Mark was a light sleeper and he didn’t need to be woken up because her stomach was upset and being loud. Even worse, air bubbles were building up inside of her abdomen and she had to swallow down burps in order to keep quiet. The air was making her usually flat stomach protrude just slightly, causing an uncomfortable amount of pressure against the tight tank top she was wearing. She had been so gassy lately and she wasn’t sure what the cause of that was. She began to softly rub her aching, churning tummy with her hand using the other one to run a hand through her pink hair. This sucked.

The nausea didn’t subside after a few minutes, in fact, it got worse. The gas did, too. Karlee sighed softly, but the sigh turned into a quiet burp that she didn’t have time to stifle. She looked over her shoulder at Mark as she slowly sat on the edge of the bed. Mark was still asleep, making no noise and showing no signs that his sleep was being disturbed, even as her stomach gurgled loudly. Figuring she would risk it, she released a wet belch into her hand, her eyes glued on Mark the whole time. He remained still, the only sign of sleep being the rise and fall of his back as he breathed silently. More gas bubbled in her upset belly and she belched again, however, this one being unintentionally louder. She watched as Mark rolled over onto his side and she held her breath, praying her burping wouldn’t wake him up. Thankfully, besides the movement, nothing changed and he remained asleep. Figuring it wasn’t worth risking anymore, Karlee slipped out of the bed and made her way across the hall to the bathroom. It was small as she and Mark shared a tiny trailer, but neither of them wanted or needed anything more than what they had. However, in that moment, she wished for a bathroom that would be larger have less of an echo.

Another cramp rolled through her middle and Karlee cradled it before putting her hands on either side of the bathroom sink. She closed the door in a desperate attempt to quiet the noises she knew she was going to make, but still remained aware of the fact she could potentially wake Mark up. The worst part was, he wouldn’t even be mad; he wouldn’t even blame her. If he walked through the door, he would just shrug and say it wasn’t a big deal despite the fact that this was probably the most sleep he had gotten in a week. His insomnia had been getting worse but that remained one of the many things they were both aware of but just never talked about.

A painful cramp brought up a loud, lengthy burp that had her gripping the sink with both hands and pulling her away from her concern for Mark. She didn’t bother to stifle them at this point. She continued to burp, each one wetter and louder than the last. Her stomach was less bloated now that she was releasing the air, but it churned more and more with each hiccup and burp. She was was in the middle of one that was lasting for a good few seconds when a knock on the door startled her. Damn it.

“Just a – urrrrrrrrrrrp – second,” she quickly called through the door. A wet, short belch escaped her and she put a hand over her mouth as she tasted acid. “I need to throw up.”

The door opened and Mark stepped in. His red hair was a mess on top of his head, and his green eyes were looking right at her. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest. Was he mad? Was he concerned? Confused? Karlee never could tell with him. “Did I wake you?” she asked, pulling herself away from the sink.

Mark just shrugged and ran a hand through his messy hair. “I was going to be awake soon anyway,” he told her.

Karlee looked down, feeling guilty. “I’m – urp – sorry.” Karlee pressed a hand to mouth, grimacing at the acidic taste that splashed on her tongue.

Mark just shook his head, uncrossing his arms and taking a step closer. Gently, he turned Karlee around and lowered her to her knees in front of the toilet. Karlee bit her lip as the lid was lifted in front of her and she was staring down into the taunting water. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she admitted softly, resting her elbow on the rim and holding her head up with her hand. She felt Mark brush her hair back out of her face with his gentle hands and smiled softly as he put it up in a ponytail for her. “I’ve been feeling so off lately.”

“For how long?” Mark asked, sitting on the floor beside her. “And what does ‘off’ mean?”

Karlee looked into the toilet bowl, shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “For like a week, I guess.” She leaned forward and spit out the saliva that was pooling in her mouth. “It’s hard to explain, Mark.” Mark as always was silent, but Karlee was more than grateful when she felt a large hand on her back. “I just wish it would end,” she continued.

“I’d suggest a doctor, but you know what they say to us whenever we walk through those doors,” Mark pointed out, tucking a small strand of pink hair behind her ear.

Karlee nodded slowly. Yeah, she knew exactly what Mark was talking about. Every problem the two of them had were waved away by doctors because of their history with substance abuse. Upset stomach? Must be because they used heroin. Migraine? Same thing. Hell, Mark had pneumonia a month ago, and at first, they were trying to pass it as withdrawals coming back and then accused him of using again. It was sickening. Especially since it took so much convincing to get him to a doctor in the first place. It was an ‘I’ll sleep it off for a few days and go back to work’ kind of guy. Which was probably how his cold turned into pneumonia in the first place. “Yeah,” she whispered after a while in agreement. She burped again, her stomach lurching visibly with a jolt and she groaned softly.

Mark remained quiet, and Karlee was actually thankful for that. Some liked to be consoled and whispered to, but neither her or Mark were really the type to want that. She knew he was there, and she didn’t need to be told that. Even as he burped up a small mouthful of vomit into the toilet, Mark didn’t react, which is exactly what she needed. Otherwise, she would probably feel embarrassed. A long, painful gag brought up more vomit into the toilet, and she made a mental note to chew better because it was not coming up easily. It was thick and chunky, and she kept choking on it as it rose to her throat. Coughing harshly into the toilet brought up another mouthful that fell into the toilet with a loud plop. “Gross,” she muttered with a shudder.

The toilet was flushed for her, probably to avoid overflowing it as she continued to get sick. The vomit she brought up this time in the now clean water was more liquid than solid, making it easier to get up. Hopefully, that meant this was coming to an end. She just wished she knew what had made her so sick in the first place. The next heave only brought up a trickle of bile and saliva which she wiped away with her hand before spitting into the water.

“Done?” Mark asked, speaking up for the first time as he flushed the toilet again.

Karlee nodded, sniffing back the vomit that had entered her nasal cavity during the more intense bouts. “Yeah,” she answered. Her voice was hoarse and raspy due to the stomach acid, and despite knowing she needed to wait a little while, Karlee stood up and headed for the sink, grabbing her toothbrush. What had been making her sick was bothering her, and halfway through brushing her teeth, she slowly lowered her toothbrush and spit into the sink. She didn’t have the courage to turn around and look Mark in the eyes face-to-face, but she looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was back to leaning against the door, his arms crossed over his chest. Her silent guardian.

“I’m late,” she said after a long moment of hesitation. She spat into the sink again and distracted herself by splashing a handful of cold water into her face.

Mark just shook his head once, his eyebrow furrowing just slightly. “Late? Late for what?”

Karlee hesitated again, biting her lip. Of course he wouldn’t understand. What guy would after being given just that? “Late,” she repeated, looking at him through the mirror like the coward she was. “For my…period.”

“Oh.” The response was stoic and expressionless, and Karlee was confused as to why she hadn’t gotten a bigger response than that. However, Mark’s expression then changed and he repeated himself, this time just a hint of surprise behind his tone. Apparently, it hadn’t clicked until just now.

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Pretty late actually and last night when we had sex, I noticed you grabbing my boobs kinda hurt. I didn’t think much of it, and I usually love it when you do that, but they were just so damn tender and now I think I know why.”

Mark’s expression was impossible to read as always and Karlee turned around to face him finally. “Damn it, Mark, for once I actually want you to speak up and say something because I’m terrified.”

Mark took a step closer to Karlee and he uncrossed his arms so he could put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re not alone,” he stated simply. Despite the lack of tone and emotion behind it, Karlee knew it was sincere and she pulled him into a hug. She didn’t want Mark to react emotionally because that just wasn’t Mark. She just needed to hear those words and it was like he could read her mind when he did say them.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “I know I’m not. I just… needed to hear that.”

“I understand.”

Karlee wasn’t sure how this was going to map out, but at least she knew that she would have this man every step of the way. It made the weight of the situation lighter and she relaxed into his arms. She would be fine. They both would be.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I am looking for new emeto friends, so please don't be shy to message me. I also love role play, so hit me up!


End file.
